PBD Planning Board Meeting - January 15, 2026
PBD Planning Board Meeting - January 15, 2026
The Peabody Planning Board met on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 7:00 PM in City Hall Wigan Auditorium. The meeting included approval of prior minutes, endorsement of a land division plan, election of officers for the upcoming year, seating reorganization, and introduction of a new board member.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of December 4, 2025: Approved unanimously by all present members (motion by Mr. Chairman, second by Dr. Otto).
- Correspondence: A memo from William Pelletz, Director of Public Services, regarding Raising Canes at 15th Sylvan Street was received. The board noted this was already approved by the Planning Board and was sent to the Conservation Commission for informational purposes.
Discussion Items
- AR Land Court 309 Lowell Street (Map 62, Lot 005): Attorney John Kelty presented on behalf of Cosmo and Al Evangelitis and Joe Evangelitis. The property is a 66,340-square-foot parcel with a single-family home and barn, accessed via a driveway from Lowell Street. The proposed Form A (Approval Not Required) plan (dated December 23, 2025) divides the property into three lots: Lot A, Lot One, and Lot Two, all within the R2 zoning district. A utility easement is shown to bring sewer from Lowell Street, as no sewer is present on North Shore Road. Attorney Kelty plans to coordinate with the Department of Public Services regarding curb cuts on North Shore Road, potentially using a common driveway to limit curb cuts and improve safety near the intersection. The board accepted a late narrative from Attorney Kelty (motion to receive, seconded, all in favor).
- Election of Officers:
- Chairman: Tom Betancourt was nominated and elected unanimously (motion by Mr. Ford, seconded by Mr. Samos and Dr. Otto; roll call: all seven members voted yes).
- Vice Chairman: John Ford was nominated and elected unanimously (motion by Mr. Chairman, seconded; Mr. Ford accepted; roll call: all members voted yes).
- Secretary: Joe Gagnon was nominated and elected unanimously (motion by Mr. Chairman, seconded; Mr. Gagnon accepted; roll call: all members voted yes).
- Seating Reorganization: Numbers were drawn by the chairman to assign seating order. Results: Dennis Feld (1), Mr. Ford (4), Mr. Samos (5), Dr. Otto (3), Mr. Gagnon (1? re-draw: Mr. Gagnon drawn as #1, but list shows multiple – actual drawn order: Mr. Feld first, then Mr. Ford 4, Mr. Samos 5, Dr. Otto 3, Mr. Gagnon 1, Mr. Gonzali 6, Mr. French 2, Mr. Saliba 7).
- New Member Introduction: Jeff Saliba, new Planning Board member, introduced himself. He is a Peabody resident since 2015, business manager for Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 6, financial secretary, licensed addiction counselor, certified employee assistance professional, and serves on the state's apprenticeship council. He expressed eagerness to serve the community.
- Other Matters: Dr. Judith Otto announced that her legal name for 31 years is Judith Otto Cachotti and requested the change be noted.
Key Outcomes
- Endorsement of 309 Lowell Street Plan: The board voted unanimously (7-0) to endorse the Approval Not Required plan (Form A plan F14677) dividing the 66,340-square-foot property into three lots. The plan requires additional coordination with Public Services for curb cuts and easements.
- Officers Elected: Tom Betancourt (Chairman), John Ford (Vice Chairman), and Joe Gagnon (Secretary) were elected for the upcoming year.
- Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote (motion by Dr. Otto, seconded).
Meeting Transcript
Like the call to out of the PBD planning board meeting agenda for Thursday, January 15, 2026, held at 7 p.m. PBD City Hall, Wigan Auditorium, 24 Law Street, PBD Mass. First item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes of the meeting of 124, 2025. Mr. Chairman, I move that we approve the minutes for the uh minutes of uh December 4th, 2025. Do we have a second? Second. Dr. Otto second. Aye. Unanimous one present new member. Next item on the agenda is AR Land Court 309 Lowell Street, Map 62, lot 005. Applicant John Kelty. Um for Cosmo and Al Evangelitis and Joe Evangelitas seeking endorsement of a plan 1223 25 showing a division of current property into two lots in an R2 zoning district. Jack? Uh Mr. Chairman, just before Attorney Kelty presents on this, uh at the request of myself and Michelle, we had asked Attorney Kelty to provide a narrative uh for this plan, which will probably provide further this evening. But I do have if the board wishes to receive it as a laid at uh attorney Kelty this Monday provided us a narrative that I can hand out to the board. Yeah, the laid ad is simply an explanation of uh what we're trying to do. Uh the real estate at 309 Lowell is a parcel of land being 66,340 square feet, having a single family uh home and a barn on it. Uh the property is being is accessed via the house and barn are accessed uh via driveway on the Jack. Just before you continue, why don't we have a motion to accept the narrative first and then continue if the board so chooses? Uh in the matter of 309 Low Street, I would move move to receive a late uh narrative communication from Attorney Kelty. Second so um the all those in favor? Aye. Oh, we didn't have the vote. The ayes have it. Um so um the approval not required plan, the form A plan that's uh before you uh is dividing that 66,000 square foot lot into three lots uh being lot A, lot one, and lot two. Uh a utility easement is uh shown on the plan, and as I um uh mentioned uh to a couple of members earlier, the expectation is that uh uh we're gonna need that easement to bring sewer from Lowell Street. I don't believe there's any sewer in North Shore Road. Uh and uh uh Roy uh has mentioned that we may need to bring our electric down that area that way too. Um I intend to reach out to uh Will Pollitz about uh curb cuts on North Shore Road. Seems to me that if we were to uh create a um common driveway between lot uh lot A, lot two and lot one and two, uh that they would uh they could share a common driveway, and that would limit the number of curb cuts uh on uh Lowell Street, and we would actually be able to push it on on uh North Shore Road, and we would be able to push that uh uh curb cut down uh as far away from the intersection of Lowell and uh and uh North Shore Road. So that's a uh meeting that will be had. Um it may be that we add a different uh an additional easement at the end, which would be uh before we record the plan, which would be to uh uh provide curb cut to uh the lots shown on the plan. Any questions from the board? Attorney Kelty, have you considered using the easement for access to these back lots? Uh there's a there's a curve on North Shore Road there, I believe. Uh we could uh that would be possible right now. That easement is a little narrow uh for a driveway, but uh that is a possibility. But our uh goal and our desire would be to work something out with public services uh because uh to create the access from North Shore Road. Mr. Chairman, if I may. Um I see you're trying to get seventy five hundred square feet for both. Are you expecting that your client is wishing to do two families out here? Yes. Any other questions from the board? Hearing none. This will need a motion to endorse the plan. We have a motion, please.
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